Our Home Assessment Process

At InspectPros, Inc., we understand that buying or selling a house can be incredibly stressful. That’s why we developed our comprehensive home inspection process — to eliminate some of that anxiety by ensuring you have all the information you need to make an informed decision.

What Happens During an InspectPros Inspection?

Our residential inspections are designed to discover any deal-breaking problems with a property before it’s too late. Conducted by a trained and certified professional — or a team of experts, depending on the property’s size — they include a thorough evaluation of the structure and all of its components. Here’s what to expect from an InspectPros home assessment:

After an order is placed — Once you have scheduled an inspection, we’ll send an email confirming the day and time, provide a copy of the service agreement, and a link to pay online. We encourage you to discuss any special questions or concerns with your inspector beforehand, so we can address them during the evaluation.

At the time of inspection — The home assessment itself typically takes about three hours, depending on the size of the home. (The standard is about an hour per 1,000 square feet.) You don’t have to be present the whole time, but we recommend you drop in at least for the last hour to go over the findings and make sure you have a thorough understanding of how to operate the home’s systems, such as water and gas service.

During the exterior inspection — If weather permits, we typically begin outside, starting up high (gutters and roof) and working our way down (drainage, foundation, crawl space, etc.). We will walk on the roof if it’s safe to do so, but our inspectors typically stay off of tile roofing to avoid damage. We will also check the electric panel and often the HVAC system during this phase.

During the interior inspection — After assessing the exterior, our inspectors will move inside. This phase includes testing all ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) protectors, built-in appliances, sinks, showers, bathtubs, toilets, lighting, as well as anything else we can get to. Our inspectors will access any crawl spaces and attics, as long as they have 14 inches of clearance. If you have ordered a specialty inspection, we will also complete those assessments during this time.

Following the inspection — Within 24 hours, InspectPros will deliver a PDF report that includes an executive summary of our findings, along with photos and links to videos that show problems the inspector discovered. We don’t just list what’s right and wrong, but we also provide an in-depth analysis of things that could be improved. And we include information about the age and life expectancy of major equipment like the furnace and air conditioner, along with cost projections for replacement.

Video Highlights of Common Inspection Findings

After more than 30,000 home and commercial inspections, we’ve seen it all — loose rafter collar ties, improperly secured waste pipes, leaky pool valves, arcing electric panels, and so much more. We’ve been filming video of some findings since 2007 and uploaded many of them to YouTube. The videos below illustrate a few of the issues we encounter frequently.